Healthcare | Tuesday 19 April, 2016 9:21 am |

Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh participated in the “Light It Up Blue” campaign in honor of World Autism Awareness Day by having the hotel team wear autism symbol pins in support of the cause. The hotel also showed support by lighting the hotel lobby in blue on this day, and distributing awareness flyers and brochures throughout the hotel. 

Blue is the official color of autism awareness and the puzzle piece, which represents the mystery of this devastating neurodevelopment disorder, is the official symbol. 

 

The highlight of the awareness activities that we have undertaken was providing a venue fully equipped with kids entertainment tools and toys, in addition to lunch buffet set-up, to host the autistic children of The Charitable Society of Autism Families, chaired by Princess Samira Al-Saud, who graced us with her presence and took part in the entertaining activities that we organized for the children. The recreational plan included decorating cookies, drawing & coloring and freeing a large number of blue balloons in front of Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh entrance as a way of sending an awareness message to the whole world.

 

World Autism Awareness Day was declared by the United Nations in 2007 to pay tribute to individuals and families around the world touched by autism, a group of complex developmental brain disorders that affect approximately 1 in every 88 children in the United States and millions worldwide. In December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a new resolution encouraging governments to take urgent action to improve access to long-term healthcare, education, training and intervention programs for persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), developmental disorders (DD), and associated disabilities, at local, national and international levels.

 

Each year on World Autism Awareness Day, Autism Speaks, the world’s leading autism science and research organization, organizes the “Light It Up Blue” campaign. This international effort encourages iconic buildings and landmarks around the world to illuminate in blue, the official color of autism awareness. During last year's campaign, nearly 3,000 structures in over 600 cities and 45 countries were illuminated in blue. Participating buildings and landmarks around the world included the Empire State Building in New York, Tokyo Tower in Japan, Christ the Redeemer Statue in Brazil, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Table Mountain in South Africa, and the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, as well as airports, bridges, museums, concert halls, schools, universities, restaurants, and retail stores around the world.